Over 1,900 prisoners will be released today as part of the state’s criminal justice reform legislation enacted this year. The Edwards Administration says this will lower the highest incarceration rate in the country and also produce better outcomes for non-violent offenders. Winn Parish Sheriff Cranford Jordan doesn’t see how releasing inmates will lead to better public safety.More

Leaders of state agencies are urging lawmakers not to cut their budgets, as the spending plan heading to the House floor is $237 million less than the governor’s budget proposal. The Louisiana Department of Health is facing a $235 million cut. Secretary Rebekah Gee says that means programs like school-based health centers, Zika defenses, and in-patient psychiatric treatment would be eliminated.More

Governor-elect John Bel Edwards has reappointed Jimmy LeBlanc as secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections. LeBlanc says he and Edwards are on the same page when it comes to reducing Louisiana's prison population.

He says progress has been made in reducing the state's incarceration rate.

The prison population in Louisiana is going down for the first time in years. Secretary of Corrections Jimmy LeBlanc told the House Appropriations Committee that from 2006-2009 the state added about 1200 new prisoners a year.